Women and Handicraft Production in North India

This chapter aims briefly to describe women’s role in handicrafts production in North India and how (if at all) this has changed with the rapid expansion of production for the export market. 1 After an outline of the dimensions of the sector, it considers various hypotheses, found in the literature, about the contribution of handicrafts to women’s development (and of women to the development of handicrafts). The focus here is on the effects of the changes in technology and the organisation of production, arising from the commercialisation of handicrafts, on the role of women. It concludes with some ideas on ways women might be more effectively involved in handicrafts production.